3rd
Gro Hege Jermstad's scorecard
IRONMAN 70.3 Nice
Sunday 26th June, 2022
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
72g
Carb per hour
650mg
Sodium per hour
456ml
Fluid per hour
1,424mg/L
Relative sodium concentration
196mg
Total caffeine
How Gro hit those numbers
How Gro's hydration and fueling went...
- Gro is a member of the esteemed 2022 Zwift Triathlon Academy who is working with PF&H as she builds towards the IM World Champs in Kona this coming October
- In her past long-course triathlons, Gro has struggled tremendously with stomach issues late in the race, ultimately leading to sickness and walking the run course
- Gro has worked hard with PF&H to dial her nutrition and hydration strategy, and this was her first 70.3 where she had no GI distress, and ultimately led to her having “the best experience on a race course I’ve ever had!”
- Aiming to get her pacing and fueling dialled for the upcoming World Champs, Gro executed both excellently to finish on the podium
Hydration
- Gro preloaded the night before the race with 1L/32oz of water with a PH 1500 (tablet) in. This will have diluted the relative sodium concentration to 750mg/L, which is less than we recommend for preloading. In future Gro should aim to drink ~500ml/16oz with one PH 1500 (Tablet) to maximise her fluid retention and blood plasma volume
- To average ~456ml/15oz per hour across the whole race is a solid effort from Gro, who did this by drinking ~492ml/h (16oz/h) on the bike and ~588ml/h (20oz/h) on the run. The temperatures began to soar during the half marathon to ~28℃/82℉, and so Gro’s increased fluid intake was a rational decision which will have replaced a good amount of her fluid lost through sweat
- In terms of sodium replacement, Gro added one PH 1500 (Drink Mix) to each of her bottles on the bike which contained one serving of PF 30 Drink Mix to consume a total of ~3,844mg of sodium, which equates to ~650mg/h. When combined with her total fluid intake of ~2.7L/91oz, this gave Gro a relative sodium concentration of ~1,424mg/L
- Given Gro’s sweat sodium concentration of 1,146mg/L, as measured by our Advanced Sweat Test, her sodium intake during the race will have adequately replaced her sodium and fluid lost through sweating
- Gro rated her hydration strategy 9/10, feeling that one slight change was that she could have taken some more liquid carbs towards the end of the bike, as she was a little hungry when starting the run
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30g
carb 30 mins before
60-90g
carb per hour during
- Gro began her race morning by taking on a carb-rich meal consisting of rice porridge with banana and maple syrup, which she has had before almost every triathlon she’s ever done
- In addition to breakfast, Gro also had a banana just over an hour before the gun went off, followed by a PF 30 Gel ~20 minutes beforehand, ultimately meaning she began the race with plenty of energy
- Throughout the bike, Gro fueled her performance using a mixture of PF 30 Energy Drink Mix and PF 30 Gels, with some additional carbs coming from PH 1500 (Drink Mix) too
- At the beginning of the run, Gro took a PF 30 Caffeine Gel to help reduce her perceived effort, and increase her alertness. She also picked up a PF 90 Gel with a bite valve out of T2 which meant Gro could sip on it throughout the run
- Gro also picked up a few cups of Red Bull and Coca Cola on the second lap of the run to top up her carb and caffeine intake
- All in all, Gro took on ~72g/h across the full 5 hours 55 minutes which split into ~66g/h on the bike and ~99g/h on the run. Usually we see this split the other way, with a higher carb intake on the bike, but Gro started to “feel a little full” towards the end of the bike, and coupled with her previous history of GI issues, she decided to back off her intake accordingly
- Gro very nearly met the 75g/hr recommendations from our Fueling Planner, and rated her energy levels 10/10 saying “I felt really strong throughout the whole race and was so full of energy the whole time”
Conclusions
- This was a breakthrough race for Gro’s fueling and hydration strategy, as it was the first race where she hasn’t been sick or experienced any GI distress
- Rating her race satisfaction 9/10, Gro was extremely happy to have felt strong all day and not experience any dips in energy levels
- Gro felt she could have pushed harder on the swim, feeling that she finished with “plenty more in the tank”
- In summary, Gro said “the main takeaway from Nice was that my fueling and hydration was spot on and I felt amazing all day - the best race experience I’ve ever had!”
Key info
Gro Hege Jermstad
Female
Sweat sodium concentration
1,146mg/L
Sweat sodium classification
High
* determined by a PH Advanced Sweat Test
Result
Position
3rd
Overall Time
5:55:05
Swim Time
0:33:17
Bike Time
3:25:36
Run Time
1:44:36
Event information
Sport
Triathlon
Discipline
Middle distance
Event
IRONMAN 70.3 Nice
Location
Nice, France
Date
26th June, 2022
Website
Swim Distance
1.9km / 1.2mi
Bike Distance
90.1km / 56.0mi
Run Distance
21.1km / 13.1mi
Total Distance
113.1km / 70.3mi
Race conditions
Weather Conditions
Hot
Precipitation
No Rain
Min Temp
25°C / 77°F
Max Temp
28°C / 82°F
Avg Temp
27°C / 81°F
Humidity
61%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction
9/10
Hydration rating
9/10
To make this a 10 I perhaps would have drank a bit more as it was very hot
Energy levels
10/10
Felt really strong all day, I felt like I had so much energy
Toilet stops
Yes
GI comfort
9/10
At one point on the bike I felt a bit full but backed off the fuelling briefly and this passed
Cramping
No cramping
Gro's Thoughts
The best race I've ever had, I was genuinely smiling the whole way!
Gro's full stats
Carbohydrate (g) | Sodium (mg) | Fluid (ml) | Caffeine (mg) | Relative sodium concentration (mg/L) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall | |||||
Total intake | 427 | 3,844 | 2,700 | 196 | 1,424 |
Per hour | 72 | 650 | 456 | 33 | |
Bike and Run | |||||
Total intake | 397 | 3,844 | 2,700 | 196 | 1,424 |
Per hour | 77 | 746 | 524 | 38 | |
Bike | |||||
Total intake | 225 | 3,750 | 1,680 | 0 | 2,232 |
Per hour | 66 | 1,098 | 492 | 0 | |
Run | |||||
Total intake | 172 | 94 | 1,020 | 196 | 92 |
Per hour | 99 | 54 | 588 | 113 |
Data Confidence
1
2
3
4
5
There is good confidence in the accuracy of the data reported. An athlete feels that the numbers closely reflect what they consumed despite a couple of estimations which may carry some degree of error. The majority of what was consumed is recorded to a high level of specificity (most volumes are known through the use of bottles brands quantities flavours). The numbers are very plausible and align with previous data recordings (if an athlete has collected data previously).